15/08/2020
NEWS STORY
Carlos Sainz: "A positive Saturday for the team. I was happy with the car balance and could push the car to the limit, especially in Sectors One and Two. Yesterday we decided to change my engine and that seems to have solved the issues from last weekend, so also happy on that side.
"The lap wasn't perfect though. I lost a bit in Sector Three compared to my best time in that same sector and maybe that would've put us P6 in front of Albon - but in general it was a strong quali. I was feeling good in the first part of the lap, and we'll keep investigating the last sector because I wasn't happy with the rear end. So, let's see what we can do to improve for tomorrow - but overall a more positive day and looking forward to a tough race due to the high temperatures."
Lando Norris: "Not a bad qualifying, but there was still some room for improvement. I was kind of happy all the way through qualifying but just on the final run in Q3 I locked up - just over-pushed a small amount into Turn 10 and locked my fronts - so I lost around a tenth, which could've been a couple of positions. I'm a little bit frustrated about that, but otherwise I'm happy we got into Q3. I think it was very close and we just about did a good enough job to get into Q3 in the first place. We can be very happy about being ahead of both Ferraris as well, who are definitely quicker than us. We should be in for an exciting race tomorrow."
Andreas Seidl, Team Principal: "It's good to have both cars back in Q3. We made some set-up changes to the cars ahead of FP3, and instantly we could see they were more competitive, and this carried through into qualifying. Well done to the entire team, both drivers and our colleagues from Renault for good analysis overnight and good execution this afternoon.
"P7 and P8 are strong starting positions and we're looking forward to a race in which we can fight for good points. It is going to be tough: the competition in the midfield is very close and, with high temperatures expected once again, there will be a lot of degradation. It should be a very interesting Sunday afternoon!"